Archive for category: Performance Training

Hello  Everyone!!

I have had the privilege of working with Homer Mann for the last 12 years.  He is a gifted teacher at helping people to change their own lives.   He helps you to become more authentic  by getting rid of many of the “shoulds” that you learned earlier in life.

In his latest creation, a booklet titled “Suspension” he looks at the natural rhythms of the earth and uses them to help you to get more of what you want out of life in the coming year.  The booklet looks at the five elements: earth, air, fire, water and spirit.   Here is Homer’s description of the suspension process.

“Another year is coming to a close but that also means a new beginning as the calendar rolls on to 2011. Inevitably there are the ‘New Year Resolutions’ that are so ardently embraced on the first of January only to be forgotten by the fifteenth and regretted a little later on.

The tradition of Suspension was the forerunner of the ‘New Year Resolution’ with a twist. The tradition of Suspension does not leave things to happenstance; instead it maintains awareness of the change I have chosen to accept into my life experience. It does so by gently easing my awareness consistently back to the choice at hand. Suspension also takes advantage of the elemental energy that changes as the seasons do and with each quarter of the year a new element of the Suspension process introduces new life and interest in maintaining the direction I have chosen my life to take.

I have been teaching this process for over two decades to the many participants of both the in-house and online workshops. This year I have made the decision to focus on developing the Suspension process in a comprehensive easy to follow step by step guide book that has become a user’s workbook that enables an individual or group of like minded people to follow their dream by following their heart.

To order your copy of the Suspension 2011 Personal Workbook simply follow the link below and ‘I wish you well on your journey’.

Much Love

M. Homer Mann”

I suggest that it would be worth to get one of the books in the coming years ahead.

www.tplt.ca/store/suspension_2011.htm

Cheers,

Coach G

Hello  Everyone!!

The Blog has been pretty quiet for the last while and I have had some amazing experiences in that time that I would like to share with you!!  I thought that I would get this one in before Track and Field season gets into full swing at school.

I had a great experience this past weekend working with Chris Munford at the University of Guelph.  He is the former strength and conditioning coach of the Charlotte Bobcats in the NBA.  What a gift it was for me to be able to work with Chris.  He has a Master of Sport for Athletic Movement and Conditioning that he earned in Germany.  To my knowledge this type of degree is not even found in North America at this time.

One of the topics that we chatted about was looking at movement bouts in any sport when you are preparing a program for an athlete.  With this in mind you can see that forwards and defense in hockey have different needs just as all of the different positions in soccer, football, volleyball all have different needs.  This part of the discussion really opened up my eyes to how detailed you can get when looking at performance.

The best tid bit that he sent me home with was to always ask the question WHY with respect to any aspect of training. (Warm up, nutrition, exercises,  sets, reps, rest period,rest days, active rest, etc.)  If your answer to the question why does not lead you in the direction that you want to be heading then you may want to change what you are doing!!  If you are not sure how to change that ask for some help!!

Thanks for sharing your time and knowledge Chris!!!

Cheers,

Coach G

Happy Friday Everyone!!

I had a great experience this week running a speed and agility clinic for the KW Vipers.  They are a local rep basketball team.  It was such a joy to be able to work with such keen and enthusiastic boys!!

As a track person I was always focused on linear speed.  Straight ahead as fast as you can go.  Period. End of story.   Last year I had a chance to learn from one of the best multi-directional speed coaches in North America, Lee Taft.  I was getting my IYCA Speed and Agility Specialist.  At the clinic I could feel the difference with how my body moved as I applied Lee’s strategies and pointers and I wished that I had learned them earlier for all the other sports I played that involved changes in direction.  My next thought was I need to share this with younger athletes so that they can move more quickly and safely.

I started the clinic by taking the boys through a few of Gray Cook’s Functional Movement Screen exercises and the screen allowed the boys to see that even at the age of 12 they have developed some imbalances in their bodies.   Most of the boys had excellent mobility and stability. This is a great tool that I would suggest all athletes take a look at.  I did last fall and found some imbalances in my own body. I digress…back to the clinic.

London Tournament Champs

(This is the Vipers team picture from the tournament that they won  in London last weekend!!)

The boys were eager to learn and were great at picking up the pointers that I was sharing with them.  I  introduced them to the plyo step for quicker starts and the hip turn for faster stops and changes of direction.  All the while I had them working for no more than 10 metres.  That is crucial when you are doing speed and agility training.  Make sure that it is for short distances and that the athletes get a full recovery.  Too often coaches confuse conditioning with speed training and run their athletes to exhaustion.

One of the parents even made that comment to me on the way into the gym that night.  She said that the boys were thinking that they would be exhausted from the night.  I told the parent that a good speed workout will often send you off feeling better than when you started!!  I also passed this message on to the boys at the start of the clinic.

Coaches Mike & Steve thanks for having me in to work with the boys!!!  All the best in the rest of your season!!

Cheers,

Coach G

Hi All,

I recently went to a training workshop in Toronto on how to use the TRX trainer.  David Snivle was the Instructor for the day.  I have been to several workshops in the last year and a half and this one was outstanding compared to the others.

The flow of the day, the content and the intensity were all perfect for an 8 hour workshop.  I left feeling energized and much more knowledgeable about how to use and teach others to use the TRX!!

We were in partners so any new skills that were introduced we got to practice teaching the skills with our partners.  What a great way to learn!!!  I am leading a TRX workshop this week and I will be using that same style when I lead the workshop.  If you want to learn something really well teach it to someone else!!!

If you are interested in finding out about a Training workshop in the area please click on the TRX icon below, to get to the TRX site to find out more about their training workshops.

Cheers,

Coach G